Police and fire briefs for May 15, 2008

• Advocate staff report
• Published: May 15, 2008 - Page: 2B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Deputies seek man  in fight-shooting
East Baton Rouge Parish deputies are looking for a 22-year-old man accused of shooting at, but missing, two people during an argument in the 1600 block of Norwick Avenue.

Herbert Reed allegedly shot at the men at 9 a.m. Monday after he got into an argument with the one of the victims about a burglary of a house, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Casey Rayborn Hicks said.

Reed was punched in the face by one of the victims before he got up and allegedly fired two shots in their direction.

Reed, who was identified by the victim, is described as a black man, 5 feet 4 inches and 170 pounds, Hicks said.

Three other men with him have not been identified.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (225) 389-5000 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.

Second fire at home seen as suspicious
Fire investigators are looking into what sparked a second blaze at a north Baton Rouge home early Wednesday morning, after firefighters had extinguished a fire there late Tuesday, Fire Department spokesman Robert Combs said.

Firefighters were called at 10:17 p.m. Tuesday to 4366 Delaware St., where they found 60 percent of the home engulfed in flames, Combs said.

That fire, which caused an estimated $45,000 in damage, is believed to have started around an air conditioning unit stored in a closet on the house’s first floor, Combs said.

Firefighters were called to the house again at 2:19 a.m. Wednesday, finding 65 percent of the house ablaze, Combs said.

The fire destroyed the rest of the house, now considered a total loss, Combs said.

Investigators are looking into what sparked the second blaze, Combs said, because fires that rekindle on their own are typically much smaller. Anyone with information on the second fire is asked to call Fire Department investigators at (225) 354-1419.

Water heater fire damages BR duplex
Materials placed too close to a water heater sparked a blaze that caused an estimated $57,000 in damage to a Baton Rouge duplex early Wednesday, Fire Department spokesman Robert Combs said.